South Africans need to say "hands off the Reserve Bank", says the governor of the Reserve Bank, Lesetja Kganyago. Speaking on Monday at a lecture at the University of Pretoria, he said: "We have a public service whose genesis is actually coming out of the constitution of SA." He comments came after Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane said Parliament should move to amend the Constitution to change the mandate of the Reserve Bank, which would effectively put an end to inflation targeting. Mkhwebane’s finding followed a complaint to her predecessor by lawyer Paul Hoffman that the government had failed to recover R3.2bn gifted to Bankorp — which was bought by Absa in April 1992 — by the Reserve Bank. She claimed that the Bank’s current mandate — centred on maintaining currency and price stability — was focused on a "few commercial interests" rather than boosting the economy. Mkhwebane’s proposed change was ostensibly meant to promote balanced and sustainable economic growth while ensuri...
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